A container for carrying a liquid product can include a fitment that renders the container non-refillable so as to impede or prevent efforts to refill the container with inferior products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,811 illustrates a container of this type.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to provide a product including a container and a non-refillable fitment that is non-removably secured to the container, and that indicates opening of the container and/or evidences efforts to tamper with the package via breakage of the container and/or the fitment.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
An anti-refill product in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes a container including a body, a shoulder integral with and extending from the body, and a neck integral with and extending from the shoulder. The neck includes a neck finish terminating in a lip, a valve seat axially between the shoulder and the lip, and including a single, circumferentially continuous, internal valve sealing surface extending completely around the neck, and a valve retainer axially between the valve seat and the lip, and including at least one radially inwardly extending projection that includes at least one internal valve retaining surface. The product also includes a check element separate from the container and carried in the container neck between the valve seat and the valve retainer.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method of producing a product that includes forming a glass container including a body, a shoulder integral with and extending from the body, and a neck integral with and extending from the shoulder and including a valve retainer, and a valve seat integral with the neck and located axially between the shoulder and the valve retainer. The method also includes assembling a check element into the neck so that the check element seats against the valve seat.
In accordance with a further aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a package that includes a container having a neck, an anti-refill valve in the neck including a check element, and a closure removably secured to the neck to close the package. The package is characterized in that the anti-refill check element is coupled to the closure such that removal of the closure from the neck separates the valve ball from the closure so that the check element functions both as a valve element of the anti-refill valve and as means for indicating that the package has been opened.